By Hritika Sharma
BEIJING (Reuters) – Canada’s John Morris can no longer coach Australia’s Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt as he is competing against them in the Beijing Games curling mixed doubles event, but he says he is proud that the pair have achieved their dream by reaching the Olympics.
Morris, who won the event with Kaitlyn Lawes four years ago in Pyeongchang, helped Gill and Hewitt become the first Australian curlers to compete at the Games, and even though they have lost all four of their matches so far the Canadian is proud of the pair.
Morris and Rachel Homan ramped up Canada’s bid to retain the title on Friday after beating Switzerland 7-5 in a rematch of the 2018 final, while Australia lost 7-6 to Sweden at the National Aquatics Centre.
“They’re very good friends of mine,” Morris said of the Australians. “It hurts me to see them not succeeding.
“But I think they’ve made wonderful strides to get to the Olympics, just to be here … I’m very, very proud of them.
“They were considered a very long shot to make the Olympics, so the fact that they’re here, and they are the first ever curling team from Australia, it’s great.
“That’s the thing we’ve got to remember here — three years ago, they had a dream to come to the Olympics, and it was a long shot dream. And they made that dream reality.”
Italy brought their top form against Norway to maintain their perfect start after three games, scoring an 11-8 win to lead Sweden in the standings with a game in hand before facing Czech Republic later on Friday.
Third-placed Canada will take on hosts China while Sweden play the United States. Australia are also in action against reigning world champions Britain before the Winter Games officially begin with the opening ceremony at the Bird’s Nest Stadium.
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
